Adult industry: Proposed tax is unfair

SACRAMENTO (KABC) -- California's $4 billion adult entertainment industry is up in arms over a new state proposal it feels is unfairly singling them out. Owners of strip clubs, online porn sites and stores would have to pay an additional 8 percent on gross receipts.

"I don't think that's very fair at all, because there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing," said adult-film actress Mary Carey. "And there's nothing wrong with the adult industry."

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But Assemblyman Charles Calderon says there is something wrong with the porn industry -- he says the workers don't usually have a long career, and California taxpayers end up footing the bill at a time when the state is broke.

"When they come out, they come out with no skills. They come out unemployed. Many come out addicted," said Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Los Angeles. "If they go on unemployment or Medi-Cal, that's a cost to the state."

San Fernando Valley would be hit the hardest because that's where almost all American porn flicks are made. The new tax could bring about $500 million a year. Assemblyman Calderon may even re-write the proposal this week to boost the tax to 25 percent.

College students who were lobbying at the Capitol Monday to push for fewer education cuts want any way to boost state coffers, even if the money came from a questionable source.

"When you're for a greater cause, it doesn't matter where you get the funds, as long as it's a legal source of funding and going to improve the future and the economy," said college student Bridgette Dussan.

Previous attempts for a special tax on the adult entertainment industry have failed. This version gets its first hearing in two weeks.

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